by Paula Mabbel
Mary Kay looked at herself in the mirror. Her red hair was a striking contrast to the dress, and she felt like she looked beautiful. She debated with herself for a moment over what to do with her hair, and finally decided that a loose bun in the back would be the best option.
I want to give him a taste of what I prefer to look like, after all. If I look too good, he might come to expect it.
Mary Kay gave herself a smile in the mirror, then sighed. She didn’t feel like she looked half as good as Meredith would have, but she decided she had best work with what she had.
With a final tug on her bun, she tied on her bonnet and headed out the door.
Mary Kay’s heart fluttered with anticipation as she opened the doors to the restaurant. It was a small place, so she knew she wouldn’t have any trouble finding Mr. Riley, but the thought of talking to him made her feel sick with nerves.
She had never before seen a man so handsome, and to think! He had come here on account of her ad! He looked like a man who had stories. Someone who had been places and done things, someone whom she would love to marry and have for the father of her children.
She saw Connor sitting at a table that had been set for two, and he rose as soon as she walked into the building. His hat was already off and by his side, but he pulled out a chair for her to sit.
“Glad you could make it. Part of me was afraid you weren’t going to show up.” He had a charming Southern drawl as he spoke. It wasn’t too thick, but was just sweet enough that it made Mary’s heart pound.
She smiled.
“I wouldn’t miss it. It isn’t very often a gentleman comes calling on me from another town.”
“Well, I’ll be honest. I was thinking of moving up to these parts anyway, I hear the soil is perfect for farming, and the people are good. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going to settle, but when I saw your ad, I knew this had to be the place.”
Mary felt her cheeks flush red, and she looked down at the table.
“Such a fine dining set. I have never seen these dishes before!” She hoped she didn’t give the impression that she was a poor girl, but it was true. They rarely served on such fine dinnerware.
“I had them set out their finest. I thought it was a good occasion to use it. Now, I have taken the liberty to order you the fried chicken. It was a favorite of mine from back home, and one of the only things that I saw on the menu that I have tried before. I hope you don’t mind?”
Mary Kay shook her head vigorously. She felt flattered he had ordered her something he knew she would like. He was already showing himself to be a true gentleman, and she greatly appreciated it.
The food came, and they chatted away as they ate. Mary Kay thought it was the best fried chicken she had ever tasted, though she had eaten it here many times before.
She was fascinated with Connor Riley. He had a way of saying things that made her feel as though she had been there, living it all with him. He described his home, his family, and how he wanted to marry a fine girl and own a farm. She hung onto every word that came out of his mouth, eagerly anticipating what he was going to say next.
When it came her turn to talk about herself, she found that the words flowed from her lips as though she had been speaking with an old friend. There was no hesitation, no awkwardness, just a pure flow of conversation that could only exist between two who were meant for each other.
They talked the night away, but to Mary, it felt like only a few minutes before he was dropping her off on her doorstep.
“I had a wonderful time, Mary. I hope you will do me the honor of going out with me again?”
Mary Kay laughed. It had gone so well she wondered why he even bothered asking, as if there was a remote possibility she would turn him down.
“I would be delighted to,” she said with a sly smile.
He kissed her on the forehead then climbed back into his buggy. He tipped his hat at her and bid her goodnight, and in a flash he was gone.
Mary Kay stood outside her door and watched him disappear into the darkness, before going into her room and falling back on her bed. She sighed happily, feeling very tired. It wasn’t long before she was asleep, still in the dress she had worn to dinner.
*****
The next morning, Mary Kay awoke to a knock on her door. She looked down and blushed, realizing that she was still in her dress from the night before. It had wrinkled from her sleep, and while she did her best to smooth it before she opened the door, she still felt sloppy.
There was a small boy on the steps in front of her home, and she recognized him in an instant as the child whom she had seen taking in the mail at the post office a couple days before. He looked very small under his large cap, and he was barefoot as usual.
In one hand, he held a piece of paper. In the other, he held a large bouquet of flowers.
“Miss Robinson, a gentleman sent me to give these to you, and he says to wish you a very good day as well.”
Mary Kay gasped as she took the flowers, and buried her face in their soft petals. She looked over the bunch at the boy.
“Thank you very much, but why aren’t you in school? It started an hour ago, and you know Miss Meredith doesn’t like you to be late.”
“He gave me fifty cents to bring these to you. That is way more to me than a day in that stuffy ol’ schoolhouse. Goodbye, Miss Robinson!” And with that, the boy was off, running down the street as fast as his bare feet could carry him.
Mary Kay went back indoors and placed the flowers in a vase that she kept in her kitchen. She then turned to the note he had sent.
It read:
My dearest Miss Mary Kay,
I hope you had as good of a time last night as I did, and I hope you enjoy the flowers. I am working on cleaning my new farmhouse this afternoon. It is the old Richards place, and I thought I would invite you over for some lemonade if you are so inclined.
Kindest regards,
Conner
Mary Kay laughed and clutched the note to her heart. She couldn’t believe it. It was like a dream come true for her. After all of this time, she finally met a man she could see herself with for the rest of her life.
If he really is this wonderful, I would marry him in a heartbeat. Then think of the children! Oh! I could be a mother a lot sooner than I thought I would be!
She hurried to change her dress and wash her hair, then she rushed down the street to Mrs. Yodel’s place. Mary Kay worked with her in the mornings most days when she wasn’t substituting for her sister at the school, but this morning she really didn’t want to work.
All she wanted to do was unbraid her hair and let it hang loose on her shoulders, then run out to the old farmhouse as fast as she could go. She could help him clean, and they could decide how they were going to set it up for their new lives together.
They could pick out their room, and the room for the baby, and—
“Watch what you are doing there!” Mrs. Yodel’s voice cut into her daydreams, and Mary Kay snapped back into reality. She looked down at the shirt she was sewing, and she could see that she had missed the seam entirely with her last pass.
“Sorry, my mind was on other things,” she said, not looking up.
“You have been a million miles away all morning. What are you thinking about?” Mrs. Yodel had a blunt way of putting things, and Mary Kay really didn’t want to tell her about her plans. Not just yet, anyway.
“Oh, nothing. You know me… some days I’m here, other days my mind is in the clouds.”
Mrs. Yodel shook her head and mumbled something under her breath, then went back to her own needlework.
Mary Kay looked down at her shirt and sighed.
As much as she wanted to be out there with Connor, she would be stuck here until this shirt was finished.
*****
The days turned into weeks, and Mary Kay spent all the time that she could with Connor. They were practically inseparable when she was off of work, and they were becoming known as a couple about the
town.
Her initial infatuation grew into a crush, then into an admiration.
Mary Kay was okay with this, although she wasn’t so sure how Connor felt. They hadn’t really talked much about what they were going to do next, but she could feel that she was falling in love with him. She hoped he felt the same way, and wondered if it was even possible that he didn’t.
The thought terrified her, so she refused to let her mind go that way. Mary Kay had always wanted children, and her standards for a husband were high. This man was everything she hoped for in a husband. He had to feel the same way, he just had to.
They were practically the same person, after all. From the first day they met, she thought of him as her best friend, and there was nothing she couldn’t tell him. If there was something that bothered her, he was the first to know. If something good happened to her, he was the first to hear the news.
Every second she wanted to be with him, to know more about him. Connor often sent her notes and flowers, and she felt they had grown close.
In all of the hours they spent fixing up the place, they talked. Everything he said, she agreed with. Everything she said, he agreed with.
Finally, after all of the work they put into the place, they had finished. The house was fixed up, the garden was ready to be planted the next season, and the henhouse was ready for the birds. It looked like everything was perfect.
Connor and Mary Kay sat on the grass in the sunset, each with a bowl of ice cream they had made that afternoon.
The two of them primarily sat there in silence, listening to the sounds of the land. They were enjoying each other’s company and living in the moment. Mary Kay could have sat there for hours, but Connor finally spoke.
“I think it’s perfect. This farm and everything on it is exactly what I wanted, and I can’t believe that I finally have it. Thank you for all of your help, Mary, I couldn’t have done nearly this much without you.”
Mary smiled and slowly took a bite of her ice cream. She loved sitting out here with him, listening to the evening birds singing and the crickets chirping their songs into the night.
She had often thought about what she wanted her life to be, but she never thought it was going to be this good. If this was all she did for the rest of her life, she would be happy. To have Connor and her children…it would be a bit of heaven on Earth.
Mary Kay turned her eyes to the kitchen, where a lamp was burning on the table, giving a cozy illumination to the entire room.
“I was glad to do it, and I think it all looks perfect, too. I can just see a pretty little family in there, a ma and a pa and two or three little kids gathered about that table. It is like a picture out of a story book.”
Connor looked over her shoulder into the kitchen where she was gazing. He was silent for a moment, and Mary Kay looked up at him questioningly.
“Is something wrong?” she asked. She didn’t know why she felt uneasy. They were used to speaking their minds to each other. Perhaps it was his silence that caused her to feel unsettled. He normally agreed with her quickly, and she didn’t need to pry for answers.
He smiled and looked down into her eyes.
“Nothing at all, my dear. I think that sounds just perfect.” He kissed her on the forehead and stood up.
“I am going to get the buggy, and I think it is time I took you home.”
Mary Kay watched him go and quickly finished her ice cream. She found him confusing at times. There were moments when she thought they were one and the same, then there were times when she wondered what he was thinking, and wished she could see inside of his head.
On the drive home, Mary put her hands on his arm and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Do you think I would be a good mother?” she asked.
Without hesitation, Connor nodded and told her he thought she would be the best mother the world had ever seen.
Mary Kay felt better, but she still wondered if something was wrong. He insisted that it was all fine, and he was just tired from all of the hard work they had done that day.
“I want you to go in there and get rested up. I thought we could go on a picnic tomorrow to celebrate being done with all of the work, and we don’t want to be tired for that.”
Mary smiled at him and agreed.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you want me to pack sandwiches?”
“Let’s see if we can get some fried chicken from the diner. We can always wrap that up in a towel and pack it in the basket for the walk. Then we don’t have to do any more work tomorrow.”
Mary laughed at him and agreed. She was okay with that. After all, that fried chicken did have a lot of good memories for her.
“Sleep well, my dear, and I will be here bright and early in the morning to pick you up.”
With that, Connor tipped his hat to her once more, and he was gone.
Mary Kay went to bed with her heart full of happiness. She erased all hesitations from her mind and told herself he must have just been tired. She knew he was going to be a great father, and he said himself he thought she would be a great mother, so she wasn’t going to let herself worry about it anymore.
They were meant to be together, she just knew it. They were too perfect to not be, and Mary didn’t want to ruin her own happiness with worry.
She settled into bed and pulled the sheets up to her neck. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, listening to the crickets outside her window. Finally, she sighed and closed her eyes.
“We were meant to be together,” she said out loud in the dark, “and we are going to be the happiest family there ever was. Just wait and see.”
*****
Mary Kay pulled her hair back behind her and worked it into a loose braid. She didn’t want it to get in the way in the breeze, but she didn’t want to look overdressed, either.
Her dresses were all dirty. She had spent so much time out at the old farmhouse helping Connor that she had neglected to do a lot of her own work. Now she wished she had spent a little more time with her own chores, but she wasn’t about to turn down this picnic to do laundry.
She found a dress that was less dirty than the others, and after running it through her washboard, she quickly heated her iron to press it. She didn’t want to spend all the time washing it, but she knew she could make it look decent if she did a quick fix.
By the time the dress was dry, Connor was knocking at the door. He had already picked up the chicken and had the horse and buggy ready to go. All they had to do was put the chicken in the basket with the biscuits Mary Kay had made a few days earlier, and they were ready to go.
They rode out into the green fields next to the lake. It was quiet and calm there, the loons swimming on the water and the squirrels playing in the trees. It looked like a picture out of the books Mary Kay read from in the schoolhouse.
They laughed and enjoyed their picnic, and Mary thought the day was perfect. She couldn’t think of a thing that would make it better, until Connor took her by the hand.
“Let’s go for a walk. There’s something I want to show you.”
It was a perfect day for a walk. The sun wasn’t too warm, and the air was still. They walked from the field up a slight slope to the top of a rolling hill. It looked over the valley, and flowers grew all around.
Connor turned to face Mary Kay, and got down on one knee.
Mary Kay’s hands flew to her face. He didn’t have to say a word. She knew exactly what he was going to say.
“Mary Kay Robinson, would you marry me?”
“Yes!”
She squealed and threw her arms around his neck. It was a dream come true for her, and she couldn’t believe it was really happening. Everything she wanted was coming together. She was going to have a husband, and in no time at all she was going to have a child.
She couldn’t wait to get back to town. She wanted to tell everyone: Mrs. Yodel, Mr. Jones, Meredith…everyone.
Won’t Meredith be shocked! I bet she never thought that I was go
ing to get married and have children like her. Maybe I’ll even have more children than she does!
“Well, what do you say we get back to town? I have a few things I need to tend to at the house, and I think you have a bit of news you are going to want to spread around,” Connor broke into her thoughts, and she smiled.
“Alright, race you back to the buggy!”
And with that, Mary Kay was off in a flash. She hadn’t felt this good in a long time. It felt like all of her problems had melted away, and she was on top of the world.
By this time next year, she could be a mother.
The days to follow were a blur for Mary Kay. She didn’t know how her sister was going to handle the news, and she didn’t trust Meredith’s happiness. Meredith was always telling her sister what to do, and it almost seemed to Mary Kay that Meredith was jealous of the fact she made this decision all on her own.
In response to the news, her sister told her that she would be helping with the wedding, and began asking Mary Kay who she wanted to invite, what she was going to wear, and what she was going to serve the guests.
“I don’t really care about all of these details, Meredith. All I want to do is be married and be a mother.”
“You know, there is a lot more to being married than motherhood, and motherhood itself isn’t all smiles and roses. There’s a lot of hardship that goes along with it. You would have known this if you had talked to me about it first,” Meredith replied.
“I could do it.” Mary Kay knew her sister was going to be irritated with the news, but she didn’t want to show her she noticed, so she continued. “Besides, Connor told me he thinks I am going to be the best mother this world has ever seen.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, but they didn’t seem to have an effect on Meredith.
“How many kids does Connor want, anyway?” she asked, completely ignoring what Mary Kay had said.
“Well, I don’t know. I have mentioned wanting a few, but he never really said how many he wants.”